3 Tools You Can Use to Create a Safe Web Browsing Experience

One of the top five ways hackers target their victims is through drive-by-downloads. These downloads may be placed on otherwise innocent and normal-looking websites. You might receive a link in an email, text message, or social media post that tells you to look at something interesting on a website. When you open the page, while you are enjoying the article or cartoon, the malicious download is installing on your computer. We have seen a steady increase in drive-by-downloads in the past year and there’s no sign of them slowing down anytime soon.

There are a few things you can do to create a safe web browsing experience and avoid falling victim to drive-by-downloads.

1. AdBlock

Online advertising subjects users to a higher risk of infecting their devices than surfing pornography sites. AdBlock is a free browser extension that prevents most ads from being downloaded in your web browser. Remove banner ads, YouTube ads and popups from appearing in your browser. Websites will load faster and your security will be greatly improved since ads containing malicious software will be blocked.

2. CheckPoint Cloud Security

CheckPoint is a cloud-delivered network security service that protects any device, no matter where it’s located. With so many tempting, fraudulent websites on the Internet it’s hard to know what’s safe to click. Thankfully, these threats can be caught and immediately blocked by CheckPoint. If you are interested in a demo and a free one-month trial of CheckPoint Cloud Security, click here.

3. A Good Antivirus Program and Firewall

An updated antivirus program and firewall will block threats from your network without slowing down your computer. It’s also vital to keep your Windows security patches updated. When patches come out, they are reverse engineered to determine what hole they are patching. The bad guys exploit these holes until the system is patched. If you are an N-Care Managed IT Support client, you do not have to worry about these updates–we take care of them for you in the background.

We are happy to recommend the best antivirus and security programs for your computers and networks. Please contact us if you would like more information.

Bonus: Ghostery

For those who wish to keep their browsing habits completely private, Ghostery is a free tool that allows you to block all the things websites use to track your browsing data. It also shows you which tools the website is using to track you. You can block some or all of them. Be careful though, as blocking some of these things can prevent items that you want to see from displaying properly.